Thane: The Shadow Mages Gyn pov
by rose in disguise
Summary: Gyn is an apprentice Elder Guard in the land of Thane. She is soon called upon to help save her Kingdom but is her own magic strong enough for the challenges that lie ahead. This story was written with a friend  lamiea  who has written Keera's pov. R & R
1. Chapter 1

"Get a move on will you, this prank was your idea. Not that I see any point in it." I huffed as I made my way through the darkness towards Keera's chambers. Jet had, had one of his not so brilliant plans to try and sneak up on Keera, it was so tedious, it never worked. I wouldn't have even bothered coming along if I didn't have something to talk to her about. We are both Elder Guards, well apprentice Elder Guards with only one real job, to protect the Elder Mages of Thane.  
Thane was made up of four tribes, the Airwalker Tribe, the Earthen Tribe, the Tribe and my tribe the Inferno tribe. I twisted the giant ruby around my finger, the Inferno power gem, as I waited for Jet to catch up.  
I was very proud to have been chosen as an apprentice, they worked you very hard but it would all be worth it in the end. I did miss some home comforts, like the heat, but nothing was worth giving up this opportunity.

"Alright, should we get this set up then." Jet said as he finally reached the door to the chambers.

"Well go on then, I want no part of this." I said pushing him through the door. I left it ajar slightly to tip Keera off that there was someone inside. I knew she had been to a tough training session tonight and had no time for idiotic games like this. Jet was crouched in the dark in the far corner of the room and I placed myself behind the door.

After about ten minutes I could hear footsteps coming along the corridor. "This is it." I muttered to myself as the door started to open slightly. As I began to see Keera's outline sliding through the door I felt the air shifting around me. He has blew it I thought to myself, I heard the cracking of tree roots shooting up through the floor followed by the thud of Jet hitting the ground. I ignited a flame in the palm of my hand and stepped out from behind the door. Keera turned round, her green eyes meeting mine and she smirk, obviously very proud that she had not been outsmarted.

"One of these days your practical jokes are going to get you into serious trouble Jet" Keera said as she slumped into on of the arm chairs.

"Ah! But I had you going for a minute. Admit it." Jet replied as he clambered to his feet, brushing his hand through his blonde mane. I rolled my eyes at him, though I secretly did not want to admit this had been his best attempt, a lot better than any of his previous attempts.  
I began to ignite the lanterns around the room, it was pointless sitting in the dark. "It would have worked better had you not used your magic, it gave you away" These two were my best friends, Jet a member of the Airwalker tribe and Keera a member of the Earthen Tribe, we were such an unlikely bunch but we were all really close.  
I sat down on the hearth of the fire and began making the flames dance between my fingers, the warm so soothing.

"So did you come for a reason other than to torment me?" Keera asked, looking between the two of us.

"Gyn has some juicy gossip" Jet announce in what I thought a far to excitable tone.

"Oh!" Keera sounded excited at first but then it her face changed to a more sombre expression as she must have read mine. She turned and glared at Jet.

"I wouldn't call it juicy more along the lines of worrying." I said shifting uneasily.

"What do you mean?"

"Well during my diplomacy lesson this afternoon with Sir Vector he was telling us the usual protocol when travelling with a delegation when Sir Marthol interrupted the lesson. I couldn't hear the whole conversation but I understood enough to work out that apparently Shadow Mages have been sighted in Thane." I turned back to the fire and ran my hand through it once more as if to take the chill away from the news I had just delivered.

"But Shadow Mages never leave Karox, they haven't since the great invasion hundreds of years ago when they were defeated and banished back to Karox." Keera edged forwards on her seat, worry etching her face. None of us had ever had dealings with Shadow Mages, we had heard plenty of stories and studied hundreds of books during our training to prepare us for this yet I still couldn't help feeling very under prepared.

"I know but I'm just telling you what I heard and we had better hope that I had heard wrong." I stood up to leave, my news passed on it was time to leave before lock down. We bade goodbye to Keera and then headed back to our own chambers. Jet escorted me to mine, for all the fool that he was he was still a gentleman and would not see a lady walk home in the dark, no matter how much combat training she had, had. I entered my chambers and hung my cloak on the wall and I walked in the door. I poured myself a glass of water as the bell rang signalling lock down, I hoped Jet had made it back in time.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke with the glass still in my hand, hanging limp from the side of the couch. I hadn't even made it to my bedroom, I had fallen asleep on the couch in contemplation of the Shadow Mages. There was a puddle on the floor where the water had spilled from my glass. I sat up and placed a palm in the water on the floor which instantly dried.  
Walking through to the small bathroom that led off from the living room I checked my appearance in the mirror, my hair was knotted at wild, I sighed and turned on the water to the bath. I soaked in the warm water for a while trying to ease the ache in my muscles from sleeping on the couch, when I got out of the bath I dressed and smudged some charcoal under my eyes to create some definition, I also prodded at the purple bruise like circles under my eyes wishing I had some of the ointment Keera had. After glaring at the mirror for a couple of minutes I yanked my knee length boots over my trousers and pulled on my cloak, as I left my chambers I considered heading straight to Keera's to see if I could borrow some of her infamous ointment when my stomach gave a loud growl, attracting the attention of other people in the hall. I decided to head straight for the dining hall.

Reaching the hall I picked up an omelette and headed for a table in the corner, avoiding everyone else, lack of sleep would not help my mood today. I was just finishing up my food when I looked up to see Keera entering the hall, she looked like she had also had a sleepless night. Her usually sleek hair was pulled back into a messy knot, her eyes were heavy lidded and her limbs seemed to drag from the exhaustion of her previous training session. I smiled to her as she approached carrying a plate of pancakes.

"Bad night too?"I asked, she nodded in response with a mouthful of pancake.

"Your news had me tossing and turning" she replied pushing the pancakes around her plate.

"Why would they come back after their defeat last time I mean …" I said breaking the silence, Keera put her fork down and looked at me.

"No idea but to be honest I think we should push this news from out mind we don't know how much of it is true and have has been amped up by gossips. We should just continue as normal it does not concern us ... yet". It was almost as if Keera had said the wrong thing, just as the words left her lips a page came strolling through the hall. I looked at Keera with shock, and mentally cursing her for adding 'yet' onto the end of her sentence.

"Miss Keera Earthen and Gyn Inferno?" the page asked as he approached our table, I was tempted to say no and hide just to avoid responsibility. But when I opened my mouth to deny it I confirmed instead.

The page opened up the piece of paper and began to read from it, "you are to report to conference room 11 in half an hour and are to bring Mr Jet Airwalker with you". He handed the paper to Keera, bowed and then left. I never understood the need to bow, like we were some kind if royalty... I knew it was politeness but in my book it was just a waste of time and effort.

"We had better go and wake up sleeping beauty then" Keera said interrupting me from my thoughts. I laughed at the thought of trying to wake Jet as he had once slept through an earthshake.

We made our way over to Jets quarters, the rain was pouring now, but at least it was taming my hair. Making our way past the training buildings and libraries on the way to Jets room, once we arrived Keera pounded on the door.

"He is not going to answer" I said shaking my head and sighing, running a small flame across my fingertips with impatience.

"What a surprise" Keera rolled her eyes and lent against the door.

"Allow me", I pulled a white hot flame into my hand and held it to the lock taking care not to scorch the oak door. The metal began to soften and then pool onto the floor, I stepped back to avoid the drips. Keera raised an eyebrow at me, as if what I had done was completely unethical. "Think of it as me extracting revenge on him for you, after all it's because of him that you now have a gaping hall in your living quarters" I grinned and pushed the door open.

The mess that was all over the floor would be enough to deter any intruder as most people, most in experienced people would normally have stepped on or tripped over something, luckily we were not inexperience, in stealth intrusion or in the way Jet lived. We edged into the bedroom, he was lying emitting low snores. Keera grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him. All of a sudden his eyes flew open and a gust of air forced us back against the wall, we slammed into it with quite a bit of force ending up in a heap on the floor. We untangled ourselves and Keera helped me stand up. I gave Jet a murderous look.

"Damit Jet who needs enemies when we have a friend like you!" Keera snarled.

"To be honest you did break into my room and wake me up I could have been under attack, it's natural for me to react" As we had no real reason to retaliate we informed his of the summons and forced him to get dressed.

Keera and I cleared a space on the couch and sat down, relaying as many details as we could to Jet through the bathroom door.

"Hurry up at this rate we won't get there, what are you doing? I can get ready faster than this"Keera yelled get impatient, obviously she was still a little bitter about being thrown into the wall. Jet emerged from the bathroom with no visible change in appearance, I rolled my eyes and got to my feet.

Kyra walked out ahead of us, clearly very anxious to find out what this summons was for. Jet and I followed slightly behind.

"There was no need to melt the lock. You could have just knocked!" Jet moaned at me.

"We did knock." I growled as he kept complaining, I tried to just tune him out.


	3. Chapter 3

As we trekked towards the tower I could not take my eyes off it. I felt like I was walking to my death. My breath was catching my throat, I always put on a brave face and seem like the brave one but nine time out of ten it is all an act. I knew my history of this building and couldn't work out how something so beautiful could be the place where all the important decisions were made, it didn't seem right somehow, peoples fate being masked by such brilliance.  
I reached the place where Keera was standing, she was also staring up at the seven story tall tower with worry in her eyes, I secretly shared her worry.

"I was just deciding why we have been asked to go to a conference room, thinking over a few scenarios, but the only way to know is to get ourselves in there right?" Keera said addressing Jets questions. He didn't seem half as worried as we were, but he never took anything too serious.

"I can't remember the last time I was inside the Tower" I couldn't tell whether I has said this out loud or not. I couldn't remember the last time I had been in the Tower, something told me I would remember this time though.

"Shall we?"Jet stepped aside and gestured for us to walk on ahead. I wondered if he ever worried about anything, he was doing his comedy gentleman routine telling us to go ahead when all I wanted to do was run, turn around and run back to my chambers, lock the door and never leave again, but my feet seemed to be stuck to the floor. I took a sneaky glance at the floor half hoping to see some of Keera's tree roots keeping me planted there but it wasn't, just my own fear.  
The entrance hall way breathtaking, full of people going about their jobs rushing backwards and forwards. We approached the desk and I let Keera speak to the woman behind the desk, I wasn't sure if I could talk at all, it felt like I had been sucking on saw dust.

"We have been summoned to a meeting in conference room 11, but I do not know which direction I need to go to get there" Keera's word floated through my head and out the other side. I saw the page walking towards us and he smiled as he told us to follow him.

"Personally I think that she needs to work on her people skills, what I don't get is how people with manners like hers get jobs which require hospitality, there is no way she is from the Airwalker tribe we are friendly folk." I heard Jet complaining as we walked down the long corridor, I walked at the back of the pack watching the numbers on the doors that we passed. Conference room seven, eight, nine... It was getting closer and my heart began to pound, I pushed my hand down on my chest as if I could force it to stop.

We stopped outside conference room Eleven and the page knocked on the door and the then stepped aside. The door opened to reveal Sir Marthol, he smiled a rather crooked smile which began to put me at ease a little, surely if there was a serious problem no-one would be smiling. Keera led the way into the room and I saw her stiffen as she did, I understood as I entered. This is very formal, Lady Thalweight was there and she was talking to a Sneak. Why were there Sneaks here, my heart began pounding again. There were two of them, there was a very experienced looking Sneak talking to Lady Thalweight and there was a much younger looking one lurking in the shadows, I couldn't make out his face but you could tell he was younger by his posture and the way he held his muscular looking frame. I glanced over at Keera and she was giving me an expression to match mine.

"Take a seat and we can begin" Sir Marthol said as he ushered into the room and closed the door behind us. The sound of the door closing made me jump slightly. As well as the four tribes in Thane there were places where non-elemental users dwelled, These people tended to people tradesman or assassins know as Sneaks. Sneaks were highly trained in the art of stealth, they tended to be very agile and... deadly. I walked towards the round table and took a seat to the right of Keera, jet sat at her other side,, not a surprise really, he was like her personal dog. Sir Marthol took his place at the front with Lady Thalweight and the Sneak, they looked very menacing standing side by side. Movement caught my eye, I looked over to see the younger Sneak taking a position at the table, he had curly brown hair and piercing blue eyes, eyes that you couldn't look away from but you were frightened that if you didn't they would burn yours right out. I watched his muscles relaxing under his plain black uniform as he sat down. I was suddenly aware of Keera looking at me and I snapped back to reality.

"I will get straight to business, we have summoned you here for an assignment briefing" I could see Keera twitching in her seat desperate to begin asking questions. "We have had concerning reports from the Mayor of the Aqua Tribe and the Aqua Elder himself has asked us to send a team to see what is going on in the Tribes lands..."

"And you chose us, excuse me Sir but I don't understand why you would send Apprentice Guards to look into something which and elder mage has requested" Keera obviously couldn't hold it back any longer yet Sir Marthol seemed to see a humerus side.

"My dear, we are sending you to make a preliminary assessment of the situation in the Aqua Tribes lands, particularly the capital City Mirage. Depending on your findings we can then dispatch qualified Elder Guards. I am sending a Sneak with you he may come in handy." I reeled at the news of a Sneak coming with us, I was reluctant to trust him but all was forgotten when I took another glance in his direction. There was something about his presence that made me feel quite calm. As I looked back the other Sneak had stepped forward and suddenly saw the resemblance, this must be his father.

"I am sending my son Blake with you he is the best apprentice Sneak we have. He will be able to help with any reconnaissance work that may help you with your research and he is trained in tactics." Blake, that was his name, suited him. I suddenly realised that I was staring again. Lady Thalweight stepped forward with a loose smile upon her face, she was a fair lady who showed considerable youth through her age.

"So summing up we want you three and Blake to head into the Aqua Tribes land and head for the City of Mirage. Once there you are to meet with the Mayor and he will explain his concerns and problems to you. From there you will be required to collect information on these issues, I'm sure the Mayor will give you somewhere to stay where you can collate your findings and report back to us. Is that understood?" I nodded to her statement and slid my chair back from the table slightly edging to get out of the room. This was a really big mission and a lot of pressure but there had been no mention of Shadow Mages which was better than any of us had thought, still I was not looking forward to going out on a mission with no guidance.

"When do we leave?" I asked suddenly finding my voice.

"As soon as possible, you need to go and pack a travel bag and meet at the stables, from there you will leave immediately. Keera I need you to summon one of your Hawks, it will be useful to you and can carry messages back to us, but I'm sure you know how to make use of a hawk... any more questions?" I could think of a million questions but I wasn't going to ask them here, none of them made me seem right for this mission.

"Go to Mirage, talk to mayor, collect info, report, nope I think I've got it" Jet said with a smile on his face, he looked so happy about the mission. Of course he would be, he was very childish in that respect, he didn't seem to get that this could turn out to be more serious than it sounds.

We were told to pack and meet at the stables, it didn't really seem like much time to prepare. It all seemed to fast, playing pranks the previous night before and then you have all this pressure placed upon your shoulders, I know it was what we had been training for but it was all very real.


	4. Chapter 4

I stood outside the meeting hall trying to get my thoughts together. The meeting had been very quick, it made me realise there was an element of urgency in this meeting. Normal people would be told to take the day to pack and depart in the morning, where as we were being rush out within the hour. There was nothing we could do until we got to Mirage. We wouldn't know exactly what was going on till we spoke to the Mayor and listened to the information that he had already gathered. I glanced at Keera and I could see every worry of mine etched into her face, I had never seen her look so worried. I had to get it all off my chest.  
"They didn't tell us much did they? Basically we have no idea what we need to be doing till we have spoken to the Mayor and that does not help us prepare. We may as well be going to Mirage blind!"

"That my dear is why I have been assigned to go with you" I did not recognise the voice that spoke. I turned to see the young apprentice Sneak standing behind me. His uniform showed of his athletic build really well, his t-shirt clung to him as if it had been soaked in water. He wore black jeans with a holster around his waist with the various tools of his trade slotted into it. He waved and walked away down the corridor, I couldn't take my eyes off him, when he walked is was if he was gliding, his feet barely seemed to touch the floor.

We carried on out of the tower and I bade farewell to Keera and Jet. I knew this was not a proper goodbye as we would be meeting at the stable before we knew it. Before I knew it I was unlocking the door to my chambers, I seemed to have walked back totally lost in my thoughts of the mission. I walked into the living room and shut the door behind me, I lent against it to steady myself. I was glad to be alone as tears started to form in my eyes. I shook them away and ran into the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. I couldn't do this, there was no time to spiral now I had to get on with it, I had to keep it together and be professional.

I headed through to my bedroom and pulled my saddle bags out from underneath my bed. I opened them out and put in a few sets of clothes. I reached up onto of the cupboard to get my scythes, two round knives, the blades glinted, they had just been sharpened, it was as if I had known that I was going to be sent on a mission. I changed into some black leggings and a loose red shirt, I pulled on some soft black knee length boots up over my leggings and tucked a switch blade down the side. I fastened my scythes to hips along with a blow pipe and some darts, I knew Keera would bring her poisons and that I could tip the darts in them. I looked at myself in the full length mirror, I looked like a killer but I still did not feel as if I had enough with me. I hunted in the drawers for my spare switch blade, when I found it I fastened a belt just under my chest and tucked the blade down the back.

After I finished packing I draped my Elder Guard cloak around my shoulders, it was a standard cloak for all the apprentice Elder Guards, plain black, it was so when other guards saw you they could see which level you were at. I fastened the cloak round my neck with a silver clasp in the shape of a flame, it had a ruby set in the centre giving it the warmth of a real flame. I took one last look in the mirror, my cloak concealed my weapons making me look like I was just going travelling. I slung my saddlebags over my shoulder and left the chambers locking the door behind me.

As I approached the stables I saw a familiar face. Garnet had pushed her nose out of the stable door as if she knew I was coming, horses did have a keen sense of smell and that is probably how she knew it was me. I reached the door and I dropped my bags on the floor, I put my face to her nose and she nuzzled up to me.


	5. Chapter 5

I had almost finished saddling Garnet when I saw Keera walking towards the stables, she headed straight around to the back pasture to collect Minx. Like Minx, Garnet stood at 17hh so she was as fully grown as her breed could be. Her golden coat shimmered, she carried a small amount of the champagne gene in her breed also giving her amazingly warm amber coloured eyes. She was watching my every move as I fastened the food parcel from Sir Marthol onto her saddle.

I was just making some last adjustments to Garnets bridle when Keera entered the stable. Garnet whinnied as Keera came knowing she was going to get a mint. She was so spoilt.

"All packed and sorted then?" Keera asked as she rubbed Garnets nose.

"As ready as I will ever be, I keep thinking I have forgotten something but I think it's just the knowledge that we will be away for a while has made me paranoid" as I said this I was making a mental check list in my head.

"Oh that reminds me. I packed a few vials of poisons for you and have labelled them so you know what they are and what they do. It's just in case we are separated or some other reason which means I am unable to supply you with them." Keera could always be trusted to be completely prepared. I tucked the velvet pouch into my belt, hoping that the poisons in those little vials would not be needed.

"Thanks I have been meaning to ask you for some of your goodies" I looked up from adjust the pouch. "Any sign of Jet?" I asked knowing the answer.

"Nope and I refuse to tack Breeze again, his lack of urgency astounds me" she said in a rather annoyed tone. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear"

I looked behind me and saw Jet walking into the stables with a very carefree attitude about him. His hair was messy, which is not unusual and he looked rather bleary eyed, as if he had been sleeping. He was wearing his loose lined trousers and a white shirt, I was thinking to myself that white was probably not the best colour for Jet, he was bound to spill something on it. His Katana was over his shoulder and I was please to see that he had loaded his belt with throwing knives.

"What took you so long?" I asked, letting my annoyance at his constant lateness show. "We are both ready, just need to tack the horses."

"I took a nap" I looked at Keera with a exasperated expression, sleeping on the job. "what! Don't look at me like that I'm all packed aren't I?"

"So at no point during this trip you will have to borrow supplies" Keera snapped.

"Who knows" he replied with his usual cheeky grin that made him think he could get away with anything.

"Come on let's get the horses ready then we can leave as soon as the sneak shows up" Keera and Jet left to finish getting the horses ready. I led Garnet outside and stopped her beside a fence, I would need the fence to get a boost into the saddle. As I finished making sure all the bags and my sleeping mat was secure on the saddle I turned around to see Blake standing behind me. I nearly screamed with fright. I put my hand to my chest and felt my heart pounding.

"How did you manage to sneak up on my with a great big horse?" I cried.

"Part of my job." he grinned. "Are you ready to go."

I nodded, words seemed to be sticking in my throat. "Keera and Jet are just tacking the horses they will be ready in a minute."

"Good, I want to put as many miles behind us as we can before it gets to dark and we have to set up camp."

"Yeah, they shouldn't be long." I was struggling to find words, this was not like me. My voice was going very girly and high pitched, and girly really wasn't me at all. Why was he having this much affect on me. I was sure this was not a Sneak trick.

"Is this your first mission?" he asked snapping me back to my senses.

"First important mission, I have done those little missions everyone gets to do as part of their training, but this is the first without a guardian."

"You can think if me as your guardian." As he finished this sentence we turned to see Keera and Jet approaching.

"Right folks are we ready to make haste" Jet asked propelling himself into the saddle with ease using his Air powers. Keera also used her powers to aid her in getting onto her horse. I was slightly less graceful and climbed onto the fence and then swung my legs into the saddle. As I turned Blake was already on his horse and pulling up beside me. Keera gave a sharp whistle and Narla came soaring out of the trees and landed on her perch.

"Everyone ready, we have everything right?" Keera asked.

"I think so, I have attached to food sack that was left for us by Sir Marthol onto my saddle" I explained, realising I had not done so already.

"Do we just leave; do we not have to wait till we are instructed to go?" Jet asked looking around at us all. I wished I had something to throw at him, this was going to be a long trip with him, no where to hide from is blatant idiocy.

"No, we leave when ready and send a message when we arrive in Mirage" I was glad Blake answered, it was the only was he would have received a civilised answer because neither Keera or I would have. But Blake had not had years to these questions therefore had some tolerance, I chuckled to myself thinking I would have to make a bet with Keera on how long it would take before Blake tried to kill Jet for his none stop talking.

"Very well, let's go then" Keera began to urge Minx forward. Jet was close behind and Blake and I pulled up the rear together, side by side.


	6. Chapter 6

The horses reached a gallop as we approached the gate. The enormity of the thing was enough to impress anyone. Five metre thick walls and and iron grate to protect the complex. Looking at it should make you feel safe when you are inside it, the walls were so thick they looked impregnable yet we were leaving, leaving the safety of those walls. As we went through the arch the noise of the horses echoed on the cobbled paving, almost like a warning that we were about to leave the safety that came with those towering walls.

I turned briefly and saw the iron grate lowering behind us, we urged the horses in a north-eastern direction. The wind in my face was very refreshing, it whipped through my hair separating every strand and made me feel totally free. The Elder Tower had been built on the borders of the Airwalkers lands, a vast open space with few trees scattered and windmills. These windmills were used to harvest energy for their factories, the Airwalkers were very useful in that way.

"How long till we reach the Aqua Tribes border" Jet asked. Here we go I thought, we were just out of the gate and we were getting the 'are we there yet?' childish behaviour.

"About 3 days ride" Keera called back, it was very faint because of the wind.

After a few hours of trekking through the Airwalker lands the wind became to much for both us and the horses. Sweat was starting to gleam on Garnets coat as she was trying to push through the wind. We all slowed to a walk, my ribs were aching from hunching against the wind, and I was oddly beginning to miss home, not the Elder Tower complex but home, the Inferno lands, the mundane never changing scenery of the Airwalker lands was beginning to get me down. What did anyone ever do for fun around here, when I was small I used to climb rocks and trees and play with the ash that was common in some parts of the Inferno lands but there seemed to be nothing here at all. I was thankful for the rocks to climb when I was younger as it had made me a rather adept climber now which I was sure would be useful one day.

"We should stop for the night soon, we need to set up camp while it's still light. Look out for any large tree we will stop by it" Blake shouted over the wind and I was thankful.

At first our search for a place to spend the night seemed rather futile. There were few places where there was any kind of shrubbery, which I thought must be a rather depressing sight for Keera. There was an odd bush or wiry looking tree, one that looked like it should not be standing in this kind of wind. The light was beginning to fade, it was then we reached the top of a hill and in the dip below there were three large trees, and it looked like we would be somewhat protected from the wind.

"It's perfect" I yelled over the wind towards Keera and I pushed Garnet has hard as she would ride towards what would be come our make shift home for the night.

Garnet automatically slowed as we reached the trees, I swung out of her saddle, it was so much easier to dismount. I tethered her to one of the trees and rubbed her neck before I pulled my sleeping bag and the food pack from her saddle. We gathered in the centre of the trees, and I placed all my things on the ground there. The wind was not as bad here but it was whistling loudly through the trees, I tried to block out the noise but it was impossible. I thought I could now understand how thing did not annoy Jet easily, he grew up around so many annoying things.

"How am I supposed to sleep with a gale blowing around me" I said as I slid down the tree and lent against it, exhaustion now completely racking my body.

"You are forgetting that I grew up on the plains, allow me to take care of the wind" Jet grinned and stepped forward, he began to draw power and raised his arms high above his head before slowly lowering them to his sides. As his arms touched his hips the wind seemed to disappear. I smiled to myself, as much as I complained about Jet he was was great.

"Impressive trick" Blake said, Jet shrugged and smiled as if it were nothing.

"I have created a bubble of calm about 5 meters in diameter, if you venture past 5 meters the wind will hit you again." he explained.

I stood up and unrolled my sleeping bag, I brushed the sticks and small stones out of the way first. Sleeping on the ground didn't bother me so much, it wasn't terribly comfortable but it would do at a push. I gathered together all the sticks and twigs that were littering the ground with a little help from Blake and I piled them up a little way from the sleeping bags and lit them to create a roaring camp fire. Once that was done I sorted though the pack of food that Sir Marthol had given us and tried my best to ration it. I heated one of my switch blades in the fire and used it to cut up some bread and cheese before wiping it on a cloth and putting it back in the belt around my waist. I handed out our meal, it seemed a little pathetic considering if we were back at the Tower we would probably be having a steaming bowl of stew. Everyone gave their thanks for the meal and I sat down with my own, not really hungry I nibbled at the cheese and picked at the bread because I knew I would need my strength, it was not worth losing strength on the first day through lack of appetite. The sun had long gone and the light from the camp fire was all we had to go by, it was a decent size and provided enough light but it cast eerie shadows about the camp.

"We should get some sleep that way we can leave early in the morning and cover more ground" Blake stated, I nodded in agreement trying to stifle a yawn but it didn't work. "I do think that we should set a watch duty"

"We are in the middle of nowhere why do we need to set watch" Jet huffed, either ude to the fact he did not want to participate in losing sleep or he was taking offence at Blake saying these lands could be dangerous.

"It's better to be safe than sorry" I sided with Blake. I did not want to be jumped in the night because we were stupid enough not to set up a watch. Keera volunteered first watch, she claimed she wasn't tired and she didn't look it but that could have something to do with all that ointment she put on her eyes.

"Ok Gyn you do second shift, I will do third and Jet you last" Blake said setting up the watch, I was happy to go second and was even happier that Jet was going last, at least he would be awake in time to leave, but I was not looking forward to the breakfast that he could possibly prepare for us. I got up and wandered over to my sleeping bag, I removed the belt from around my hips and laid it beside me so my weapons were handy if anything were to happen. I slid into my sleeping bag and moved around until I had made a comfortable place for myself. I looked up at the sky, very clear and stars sparkling across it and my eyes began to feel heavy.

I was dreaming of scouting a group of shadow mages, they were just black blurs really since I had no idea what a shadow mage was supposed to look like. I was up a tree and watching them plan an attack then all of a sudden it was very windy and the wind was trying to shake me out of the tree...

"Hey Gyn," Keera whispered. I came to my senses, it wasn't the wind at all, it was Keera trying to wake me.

"Yeh" I said very gruffly, my voice still not functional.

"It's your watch, time to get up" she said, I sat up and tried to rub the dream out of my eyes, the camp fire came into focus.

"Already it feels like I have just gotten to sleep" I climbed out of my sleeping bag and picked up my belt taking it over to the fire with me, weapons close at hand.

"ok?" Keera asked.

"yeh, yeh im fine you get some sleep" I replied as Keera made her way over to her sleeping bag with Narla close behind her. I stared at the fire for a few more minutes while my eyes adjusted to the light around me. I reached over to my belt and took out the little velvet pouch the Keera had given me. I pulled open the little gold strings that were keeping it closed and tipped the vials into my hands. I looked at the labels she had put on the bottles and smiled at how much effort she went to, to protect her friends. I took my darts from my belt and dipped a few of them into each of the different vials before putting them back on my belt. I replaced the vials and tucked the back back into my belt to, I was starting to feel bored, I could hear Keeras soft snores mixed with the loud snores of Jet and the deep breathing of Blake. I turned my attention back to the camp fire, it was looking a little low. I crept over to the trees and began snapping a few of the lower dead looking branches off for the fire, a few twigs landed at my feet and saw Narla throwing down smaller branches, she was such an intelligent bird and because Keera and I hav=d been good friends for so long Narla was used to my presence. "Thank you." I whispered into the tree before carrying what I had back and placing it on the fire.  
I sat in front of the fire and pulled some power from my gem, I projected it into the fire and made shapes in the flames. I was just making the shape of Garnet galloping when someone grabbed my shoulder. The shape vanished into the fire and grabbed my Scythe from beside me and swung it round and it met a metal bracer. I looked up to see Blake staring at me. I immediately lowered my weapon and placed it back on the ground.

"You scared me!" I said staring at the fire, he took a seat beside me.

"Good to know you are prepared though, if I had been a real intruder then you may have taken my head clean off."

" I still might." I muttered. He laughed, it was such a pleasant sound. I had never heard him laugh before and I began to laugh myself.

"You can head to bed now if you like, I am awake anyway."

"I still have about an hour left of my watch." I told him. "Plus if Jet thinks I got away with doing less watch than anyone else I will never hear the end of it. If you haven't noticed already, he is a big talker." Blake did that amazing laugh again and began picking at a thread on his cloak.

"Well you can finish you watch if you want, but I hope you don't mind a little bit of company."

" Of course not." I smiled and began making shapes in the fire again.


	7. Chapter 7

My eyes fluttered open, the sky was bright and I was back in my sleeping bag. I didn't remember going back to bed but I must have at some point. There was a dreadful burning smell, in fact it was more like a mix between burning and wet dog, I sat up and looked over at the fire, Jet was kneeling behind it with a cook pot, Keera beside him. I groaned, closed my eyes and pulled my sleeping bag over my head.

I lay there for another couple of minutes before I decided that I couldn't pretend to be asleep any longer. I knew he would end up cooking, I knew I should have asked to be last watch. I walked over to the fire and gave a good morning nod each to Jet and Keera, Jet handed me a small square tin, the contents were the obvious source of the smell. I hadn't realised that I was just staring at the contents in the tin until Blake sat down beside me and was handed a tin of his own. I looked at Keera and she gave me a pitying look. I swilled the food around the inside of the tin and then took the smallest mouthful trying to swallow it with out tasting it. I heard a small choke come from Blake and I laughed to myself, we all handed our tins back claiming we were full and that Jet had found a concoction that kept hunger at bay, he said he didn't feel like that and we managed to pass it off as him being used to food from the Airwalker lands and he was used to it.

"We had better head off soon" Blake said as I helped Jet to wash out the cook pot, I had offered, I didn't not wanting that smell lingering in my cook ware and being transferred to all my things. We packed up the camp and re-packed everything onto the horses, Blake gave a hand to get up onto Garnet since there was no fence to climb and being a little on the short side I needed all the help I could get. As we started riding the wind was suddenly back, we were obviously outside Jet's bubble.

We rode for another two days and were slipping further and further behind schedule, much to Blakes annoyance. It would be so nice to be out of the Airwalker lands, the wind was hindering everyone and was the reason we were running so late. We were close to the Aqua lands now, but we still had a way to go. I was getting tired, I was dozing when Jet nudged me and I woke suddenly, as soon as I came round from my sleep I began to notice the land was changing and breathed a sign of relief. I took in a deep breath and could smell the sea, the coast couldn't have been too far away.

The sun was beginning to set and we were in real need of somewhere to stop and rest, we had been on the move over twelve hours and my legs were really stiff from sitting in the saddle. The ground was becoming really had for the horses to walk on and Garnet was walking with her head lowered in exhaustion. Blake suddenly started pushing his horse forward and pointed to a large rock with a considerable over hang for shelter. "Just a little further." I muttered to Garnet and stroked her as I pushed her forward.

We secured the horses and unloaded our packs, I brushed down Garnet and fed her a mint for all the hard work she had done today. When I was done with the horses and laying out my sleeping bag for the night I began to dig a pit of the fire, but I could not find any firewood anywhere, it was worse than the Airwalker lands.

"There is no wood around here how will we light a fire?" I explained to the others, we could not be with out a fire. It wouldn't be long before the sun completely set and we would be sat in the cold and the dark with no way of cooking any food.

"I will go and look for firewood, if you all set up the camp I won't be long" Keera offered, I smiled and nodded.

"Want some help?" Jet asked her, jumping up.

"No I will be quicker on my own, you stay and help here" she replied and headed off fastening her gauntlet to her arm. Jet threw himself on the floor.

"Why does she never let me help?" Jet huffed. I rolled my eyes.

"You can help me." I said giving him a knowing smile. Jet did not look impressed, I knew why he wanted to go and it had nothing to do with helping carry firewood. I fed the horses and then sat down between Blake and Jet, Jet was busy tying bits of lace and leather together and Blake was sharpening his knives. I was staring into the gathering darkness when movement caught my attention.

"Did you see that?" I cried out. Jet and Blake both looked up from what they were doing and glanced around.

"No, what?" asked Jet.

"Nothing." I replied, "must have been a trick of the light." I went back to staring to space again when I saw something moving again, it looked like a little girl, in a white lace dress running around just outside proper vitewing range.

"Look there!" I yelled again punching Jet in the arm to get his attention. He squinted off into the distance.

"I can't see anything." he replied, "You are probably over tired."

"It's a little girl." I muttered. Jet laughed.

"What would a little girl be doing out here all by herself." he asked through chuckles. I stared at the place where the girl was now digging in the sand and then the sudden realisation dawned on me. Jet couldn't see her, but I could.

"Shadow mage." I whispered.

"What?" Blake whispered back with a panicked air to his voice. "You sure?"

"Oh I am sure." I answered, all of a sudden the girl vanished and a man in a long black hooded cloak stood before us.

We all jumped to out feet, I pulled my scythes from my belt and automatically went into a fighting stance. The man pulled out a set of nunchucks from his cloak and began whirling them in a threating manner. Jet threw a knife but the man knocked it off course. Jet set a gust of air but the man seem and to block it with his arms. He lunged at Jet and jet pulled is katana and began sparring with the man. I rushed forward in an attempt to help but he manged to knock me off guard and I fell to the floor. As I was stuggling to get up I saw Jet fly backwards into the rock and fall unconscious. Blake helped me stand and I rushed forwards at the man, I managed to block the nunchucks this time and deal him a good couple of blows to the arms, I could see the blood dripping into the dirt. As I was watching the blood my focus was compromised and I took a blow to the head. I fell to my knees and saw Blake step up to fight. I rushed over to Jet, the back of his head was bleeding, he was just coming into consciousness. I rushed towards Keeras pack and rumaged through until I found some thick green ointment, I ran back to Jet and lathered it on the back of his head. My headache was lifting and I could see Blake was struggling, unless he had the upper hand in the surprise stakes his fighting wasn't the best. I rushed forwards and managed to catch the chain of the nunchuck with my scythe and ripped it from the mans hand. Swining in the other scythe I caught him across the chest. The man staggered back, he smiled and then a huge crow to the place of where he had been standing and it winged of into the night. I stood panting, Blake was clutching at a gash on his arm, I was still in a fighting stance just staring at the place where the crow had vanished. I was brought back to the present when a shrill cry above us penetrated my thoughts. Narla was swooping low and crying out.

"Keera." both Blake and I said in unison and began sprinting in the direction that she had left. We ran for some time then eventually through the darkness I saw I blurred figure, it looked like it was carrying another figure.

"Keera!" I yelled and tried to run after the shape, Blake caught me around the waist and put his hand over my mouth.

"We are both injured, and there is no way we can take another shadow mage. I can track them, lets get back to Jet and get the horses." he removed his hand from my mouth and I began to sob, I should never have let her go on her own.


	8. Chapter 8

Blake guided me back to the camp, we found a bunch of firewood on the way back to the camp, it had obviously been collected by Keera I could tell by the leather band that had been tied around it. I felt as if I was just floating along, my mind was buzzing with thoughts of when she could be and why she had been taken. I swore to myself I would get her back, she was my oldest friend and I knew I would be no use without her.

As we reached the camp I could see Jet pacing beside the pit, I did not want to deal with him. I walked straight over to the pit that I had dug earlier and dropped the firewood into it, igniting it with my fingertips.

"Where is she?" Jet yelled at me, I kept my back turned and did not answer. "Gyn?"

"She was taken, there was a second Shadow Mage." Blake explained.

"Then we have to go and get her back!" Jet stormed to my side and I could feel his eyes boring into me. " Gyn move!" I stood up in a blazing rage.

"There is nothing we can do!" I fumed at him , my voice hissing out like a cat. "Blake will track the Mage tomorrow, we wont be able to see anything in this light."

"Gyn is right, I am confident I can track them but we best get some rest and wait until morning."

" I will take first watch." I said sitting myself back down in front of the camp fire. I could hear Jet banging around and getting into his sleeping bag as angrily as possible.

I could hear two sets of muffled snores, maybe being on first watch was not the best idea I had, had. Being alone with my thoughts was torture. My mind began to wander, I was following a path of light which was illuminated by a flame in my hand, I was following slight disturbances in the soft sandy ground. I could do it, I could light my way, I could track her by myself and get a head start. Before I knew it I was sneaking over to where Garnet was tethered, I saddled her as quietly as I could. I was just about to clamber up onto her back when a voice from behind startled me.

"Where do you think you are going?" I turned to see Blake standing behind me with his arms crossed. "You will end up getting yourself killed, that is not the best idea. Do you not think I can track them?" I heaved a big sigh and rolled my eyes, I didn't bother replying, there was nothing I could say to make my escape attempt any less stupid. I walked over to my sleeping bag and slid inside in pulling it up over my head so no-one could see my tears of frustration.

I was woken by a low clanking sound, it was still dark as I pulled the sleeping bag from over my head. I sat up and saw Blake sitting by the fire stirring something in the cooking pot. I climbed out of my bag and headed over to the fire, I sat down opposite him, tucking my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them I looked up at Blake.

"I'm sorry." I muttered under my breath.

"You do not need to apologise, I know you were just worried about Keera."

"Did you do two watches?" I asked looking around and seeing that Jet was in his sleeping bag.

"No, he got up not long after you went to sleep, I went to bed and he woke me a few hours ago. I thought I would take the last watch so I could cook." he laughed to himself. " I was just about to wake both of you."

"I'll wake Jet." I said winking. I picked up one of the billet cans which we ate our food out of and I threw it at Jet. It landed just beside his head, Jet let out an almighty roar and jumped up with his sleeping bag still wrapped around his waist. I put my hands over my mouth to try and stifle my laughter, Blake did nothing to hid his, he was rolling backwards holding his stomach. His laugh always caught me off guard, it was musical and made me feel so happy even in such an awful situation.

"Was that completely necessary?" Jet yelled waving the billet can above his head. I smiled at him and shrugged.

"Breakfast is ready." I laughed and took the can that Blake handed me. The food smelt delicious, there was chunks of breakfast meat mixed in with eggs and warmed bread.

The sun was just starting to come up over the hill when we began to ease the horses out of the enclosure, we raced to the place where Blake and I had seen the Shadow Mage disappear, we had to go slow from then on so that Blake could follow their trail. It was obvious, even to me that they had made off on foot, so they couldn't do the creepy bird thing with other people, that meant we had a better chance of catching them. Blake and I pushed forward, Jet was behind us with Minx and his own horse, we had loaded Minx with most of the supplies since there was no human weight for her to carry. Narla was scouting above us, she was wailing in the sky searching for Keera.

It was beginning to get late when I finally noticed something unusual. " Haven't we passed that rock already?" I asked aloud.

"What?" Blake reigned in his horse beside me and stared at the rock.

"I am sure we have passed it, at least twice."

"Now you mention it." Jet said as he stopped close behind us. I jumped down off Garnet and approached the rock, as I got to it there was a sinking feeling in my gut, I was scared as to what I might find behind it. As I walked around the rock something in the distance caught my eye.

"Over here!" I yelled. Blake was by my side in a flash.

"Jet is with the horses, what is it?"

"Look over there." I said pointing at something on the ground. Blake and I walked up to it cautiously, as I got closer and realised that it was the remains of a camp fire my heart skipped a beat. I ran to the blackened patch that had once been a small camp fire and plunged my hand into the ashes. "There is still some warmth in this." I gasped as Blake knelt beside me. "They must have been under our nose the whole time. They are about five or six hours ahead of us judging by the temperature of the ash."

Blake and I ran back to the horses, Blake reached them before me and stood beside Garnet, by the time I reached her Blake was standing with his hands out to boost me onto the horse. I swung straight up and waited for Blake to swing into his own saddle.

"Ride fast Jet, as fast as you can, we have a chance to catch up with them."

After what must have been about four or five hours hard riding we came to the decision that we had to stop for the night, the horses were tired, Jet was falling asleep in his saddle and I was so tired I could barely keep the flame in my hand alight to light our way.


	9. Chapter 9

We set up camp and fed the horses, once we had some food we sat talking for a while. For the first time since the ambush we actually talked about it. We discussed what we would do different when we found the Shadow Mages who had Keera.

"I am going to go for a little walk." I said standing up and stretching.

"You are not going alone." Jet stated also getting to his feet.

"I am, I saw one of those rock pools slightly further back I am going to go and look. I picked up my Scythes and hooked them into my belt and picked up my bag as I left. I created a large flame in my hand as I headed away from the camp it lit the way ahead slightly, enough for me to reach the rock pool. Once I reached it I looked into the pool and watched the life swimming about in it, I removed my boots and sat with my legs over the edge and my feet in the water, it was cool and soothing. I rummaged through my pack and found my wash cloth. The salty water would do nothing for my skin but at least I would feel refreshed. I removed shirt and leggings and slid gently into the pool. The cool water took the sting out of legs where I had been riding all day, I closed my eyes and dipped my head under the water soaking my hair so to remove all the grit and muck that had been kicked up by the horses on the ride.

I climbed out of the rock pool and dried myself with the heat from my hands, I pulled on a clean pair of leggings and black tunic. I was just securing my belt back around my waist when I saw Blake approaching. As he reached me he smiled and held up his bag.

"Great minds think alike eh?" he called to me. He dropped his bag beside mine. " I left Jet asleep, he was pretty tired after leading two horses all day. I sat down on a rock nearby and began sharpening my scythes.

"The water is pretty cold." I said watching the sparks off the flint as it collided with my blades. "Are you..." I couldn't finish my sentence. As I had tuned to speak to Blake he was removing the tight black shirt that he had been wearing. His arms were above his head, all his muscles were taught across his stomach and they relaxed as he lowered them and tossed his shirt to the ground. I blushed and looked away as he removed his trousers, obviously not shy. I kept my eyes averted, focusing on my scythes for the entire time Blake was in the pool, I did not want to be caught looking at him but I could not help taking sneaky glances.

Twenty mins later we walked back into the camp. Jet was snoring in his sleeping bag. Blake moved in front of the fire and I could see the damp patches on his shirt where the wetness from his skin was soaking though. I dropped my things beside my sleeping bag and laid out my soaked clothes on the ground by the fire to dry them. I watched Blake out of the corner of my eye doing the same thing, the wet patches on his shirt growing as they soaked up more moisture.

"You will catch your death like that." I said as Blake sat down beside the fire.

"What do you mean?"

"Sitting in a wet shirt, and sitting with wet... skin." Blake laughed.

"I will be ok."

"No you won't, I can see you shivering from here." I walked over to where he was sitting and sat down behind him and placed a leg at each side of him I wrapped my arms around his torso from behind, I could feel every solid muscle defined underneath my hands. I leaned against his back and placed my head on his shoulder.

"That is really warm." He said in a soft voice.

"You will be warm and dry in a few mins." I concentrated all my powers on radiating heat from my body and into his. As I sat there with my head on his shoulder all I could smell was the salt from his skin. I closed my eyes and then I suddenly felt myself falling asleep. A sudden sweeping motion pulled me from me sleep, I half opened my eyes and realised I was floating I turned my head slightly and then realisation hit me, Blake was carrying me. I must have fallen asleep as I was trying to keep him warm. I felt the softness of my sleeping bag beneath me, my eyes were closing againm then I felt a soft tender kiss on my forehead.

"Goodnight." I heard his whisper before sleep claimed me again.


	10. Chapter 10

I awoke the next morning feeling fully rested. I clambered out of the sleeping bag and headed to the camp fire. Jet and Blake were already up. Blake had obviously made breakfast again because there was no smell of wet dog. I sat down between them.

"Why did no-one wake me for my watch?" I asked.

"You were so tired yesterday, we knew you needed a proper sleep so we shared you watch." Jet replied. Blake was weaving laces through a strip of leather.

"What are you making?" I asked.

"A gauntlet, I figured that they can't be to far ahead with Keera so I think we should scout on foot and take Narla with us. You are the only other person she trusts so I am making you a gauntlet to wear so you can carry her.

"You really think they can't be far."

"They would have had to stop too, their horses can't travel to fast because one of them is carrying to passengers. We will find them today." Blake explained. I got up and began to gather some things together. I packed a small amount of food, some water, Keera's ointments and I loaded my holster with all my weapons.

"Are you going to be ok staying here with the supplies Jet?" I asked.

"Yeah, just promise me you will find her." I walked up behind him and ruffled his hair. Sometimes he felt like a kid brother to me and I loved him like that too.

"I promise." I whispered to him before walking over to Blake.

"Hold out your arm." he said brandishing his home made gauntlet. I stuck out my right arm and Blake placed the strip of leather over it and began tying it on underneath. His hands kept brushing the skin on my fore arm, tingles shot up and down the length of my arm and my heart began to flutter. " You scared?" he asked. "I can feel your pulse is racing." He was holding my wrist and my pulse was betraying my thoughts.

"A little." I replied hoping he wouldn't look up to see me blushing. Blake pulled really tight on the last lace and then patted the gauntlet on my arm.

"All done." he smiled at me went to pack his own bag and collect his weapons. Moments after Blake had walked away from me Narla started circling above me, I held up my arm and she can soaring down and landing with precision on the gauntlet. The weight of the bird on my arm felt strange but I smiled to myself knowing that this bird was a good judge of character and she trusted me. I rummaged in the pocket of my bag and found a strip of meat that I had deliberately packed for her, I fed it to her and she called out in thanks.

Once Blake was packed we headed off to look for Keera. I whispered to Narla to go and find her then rose my arm really quickly, she soared in the air not straying too far from us but scouting out land that we could not yet see.

We had been travelling for a few hours when we stopped to have a bit of lunch and some water to keep our strength up, if we were going to fight Shadow Mages again we would need all the strength that we could muster. We made do with small portion of cheese and bread that we had for lunch.

"So... you are from the Inferno tribe." Blake said, trying to make conversation.

"What gave me away." I replied. He laughed.

"Do you miss it?" he asked.

"Sometimes, I know this training is important and not many people are chosen for it but I do sometimes wish I was back home climbing rocks and helping at the forge."

"You helped with making the weaponry?"

"Yeah." I handed him one of my scythes. "I made these just before being enrolled in the Elder Guards, we mined those rubies our selves. My mothers side of the family are miners and have mined countless gems, whereas my fathers side are all crafts men and have made weaponry for centuries." Blake sat stroking the ruby in the hilt of the scythe. "We had to find two rubies that were similar in weight so that both my scythes would be equally balanced. I should make something for you some time." I said blushing again. He handed me my scythe back and I hooked it into my belt. We sat starring out at the vast expand of land in front of us when Narla let out a shrill cry.

Blake and I both looked at each other and jumped to our feet.


	11. Chapter 11

Narla flew above our heads, racing in circles then darting off in a different direction. Blake and I pick up our bags and began to run in the direction Narla was leading us. My heart was leaping around, excitement that we would find Keera, nerves of what kind of state we would find her in and terror at the thought of coming up against that Shadow Mage again.

We were running for ages following Narla, Keera had obviously managed to call for her a Narla had not strayed this far from us. All of a sudden something slammed into my side and I fell, rolling in a small group of bushes. Once I stopped rolling I realised it had been Blake, he was now lying on top of me pressing me to the ground with his hand over my mouth. I stared at him with fear in my eyes, he took his hand off my mouth and pressed his finger to his lips, then pointed up. I knew what he meant straight away. Narla had gone quiet, Blake rolled off me and I sat up slightly. He was crouched trying to look out of the top of the bushes.

"Narla has landed, she is hidden." He whispered. "I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked. I shook my head then realised I wasn't sure if he had hurt me, I hadn't thought about it. It was then I noticed the small throbbing in my ribs, I could tell it wasn't serious but I would have a nice bruise there for certain.

"They are gone." he said in a slightly louder voice, I then heard Narla calling for us again. Blake held out his hand and helped me up out of the bush. We must have looked like such a sight, I could feel the twigs in my hair and the sand covering my clothes and looking at Blake he was the same I leant forward and pulled a leaf out of his hair and smiled at him. Narla started heading off the direction she had been travelling before and we started chasing her again.

We ran for miles, and miles when suddenly Narla swooped down. Blake and I picked up our speed and headed to the rock that Narla was now perched on. As we got closer to the rock I could see the vague shape of a person lying underneath, 'please don't be dead, please don't be dead' I was chanting over and over inside my head. As I got to the rock I fell to my knees and pulled Keera halfway out of her hiding place. She was unconscious and covered in blood, there was dirt smeared all over her face with tear tracks running though it. Blake helped me to pull her out a bit further and I lent over her face.

"She is breathing." sighed in relief. As we slid her out of the hole under the rock he amulet slid out with her, as we turned her onto her back we noticed the silver star sticking out of her side just below her rib cage. "We have to get her back to the camp."

"I know." Blake stood up and began looking around, not to far away there were a few trees. He went over and began hacking at a couple of the branches with a knife. "I don't think she will mind me damaging a few trees if it means we save her life.

"If only she was conscious we wouldn't have to she could used her power to create roots or something." Blake came back with two sturdy looking branches and a few littler ones.

"Give me your gauntlet." he said without even looking up, he had lain the branches on the ground in the shape of a stretcher, I threw the gauntlet to him and he began pulling it apart and using the lace that held it together to bind the branches together. "Can I have your cloak?" he asked.

"Sure." I said taking it off and throwing this too him also, he used it to cover the branches and make a place for Keera to lie. "You are very handy." We lifted Keera onto the stretcher, I held her head while Blake to her feet, we lowered her onto it gently. "Go warn Jet." I yelled to Narla and she sped of in the direction we had travelled. We lifted the stretcher between us, Blake walking in front holding the bottom of the stretcher behind him, I held the top in front of me. I looked down at Keera as we walked, she just looked like she was sleeping, apart from all the blood.

We walked for hours, we couldn't go as quick while carrying the stretcher between us. I looked down at Keera again, her eyes began to flutter.

"Keera, Keera can you hear me." I probed, but her eyes began to close again.

"Vex..." she whispered before her eyes shut completely and she became still again.

It was dark when we reached the camp. As we came over the hill I could see Jet boiling water and tearing up strips of cloth. He had rolled out Keera's sleeping mat, Narla obviously had got the point across. Blake and I lifted Keera onto her sleeping mat. I immediately tore the shirt that she was wearing down the side where the star was stuck I her side exposing the true extent of the wound.

"Is there anything we can do?" Jet asked as he came over with the cloth and warm water.

"I can remove it." Blake said examining the wound, "You said she has very good ointments." I nodded and placed them down beside him. "I can take it out, and dress the wound but it is not going to be enough. We need to get her to an infirmary as quick as we can, I am no healer."

Blake pulled on the star till it loosened, he placed it in on of the bowls of water that Jet had brought. I sat on the other side of Keera washing away all the dirt that covered her face. Blake used a cloth and the warm water to wash away all the dried blood from the wound, it was bleeding as much any more just a slight bit. He wrapped bandages around her torso, just as he had finished we began to see the blood still seeping through the bandage.

"I will have to change those every day."

"Why didn't I go with her." Jet muttered. "I should never have let her say no."

"It is not your fault, none of us could predict this." I said, I placed my hand on her forehand, sweeping her hair back when her eyes fluttered open and she seemed to stare at us in fright.


	12. Chapter 12

Jet leapt forward and was leaning over Keera beaming as her eyes opened and she blinked us into focus.

"Never do that to us again you hear me! Guys she is awake." Jet cried, as if we were a million miles away, we could quite clearly see that Keera was awake.

"It's not like I planned for it to happen Jet." Keera croaked, Jet lifted the water to her lips ad poured it into her mouth. "Thanks"

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked smiling down at her, she smiled back.

"I've felt better" A look of relaxation came over Keera's face as she looked around at us, clearly happy to be back with familiar faces, she was most likely still feeling pretty shook up, kidnap can do that to a person, not that I would know but I could imagine how she was feeling. She tried to sit up and Jet gently but forcefully pushed her back into a horizontal position.

"You need to be careful, we have patched you up as best we can but we really need to get you to the Mirage infirmary. You're just going to have to take it easy till we get there, which I know will be difficult for you." I explained to her, nowing she would not like that, Keera was not the kind of person to rest while other people were working, sometimes I wondered if she was an actual workaholic.

Keera lifted the shirt that I dressed her in and looked down at the bandage that was wrapped around her, she sat up this time managing to fight off Jet. Blake was cooking stew for us, his stew was bound to give Keera some of her strength back, Blake handed Keera a billet can full of stew and smiled at me as he did so. He hadn't known Keera very long but I could see it in his face and the way that he held himself that he was just as relieved as I was to have her back with us.

"Once you have some of your strength back we must get moving the crows are circling and I don't want to have to face another attack from them, not with you in this vulnerable state" said Blake, I placed my hand upon his shoulder.

"Em, I would advise against calling Keera vulnerable." I said to Blake which gave us all a laugh. It was nice to here us all laughing again as if we weren't in the middle of an important mission or we hadn't been attacked, and one of us kidnapped by Shadow Mages.

Blake and I moved to the other side of the camp, I wanted to give Jet some time alone with Keera since he had really struggled while she was away. "Jet really likes her doesn't he."

"It is so obvious I know, well obvious to everyone but Keera." I giggled.

"How can she not tell?"

"I think it is because we are all such good friends, she can't imagine he likes her as anything other than a friend." I explained.

"So neither of you have been anything more than friends with Jet?"

"Are you kidding me!" I laughed hysterically and pushed Blake. "Jet is like my brother, that is totally gross. He is not my type at all."

"What is your type?" he asked grinning at me. I didn't know what my type was.

"If I didn't know any better I would have said you were flirting with me." I mock glared at him.

"Well what is a little harmless flirting between friends."

"What! Why are you looking at me like that!" Keera yelled. I spun round quickly to see what was going on. I made my way over to where they were both sitting. Keera had a face like thunder and Jet had a hideous wounded look on his face.

"Jet, can you leave is alone for a few minutes please." Jet rolled his eyes at me then walked over to Blake, dragging his feet like a scolded child. I sat down beside Keera, making myself comfortable I gave her a look that suggested I wanted to have a serious talk with her.

"What happened when you were taken?" I asked her.

"What do you mean what happened, I was abducted what do you think happened. I was able to use my magic to escape after a fight with one of the shadow mages" Keera explained, her tone of voice was an annoyed one, she must be mad at me for asking but I was not going to let her bottle everything up so that she snapped at everyone.

"How did you get your amulet back?"

"By being devious and using my feminine charm, why?" She was questioning my concern, she should know I would have been interested in what had happened.

"Using your feminine charm and that worked? Keera these are shadow mages I doubt that they were interested in canoodling with an apprentice guard we are natural enemies after all."

"Well it did work because I managed to escape. The shadow mages were men after all and all men are weak to a woman's touch"

"So this shadow mage you charmed was he called Vex?" I asked trying to keep my face as neutral as possible.

"Yes, but how do you..." I saw the wave of confusion and slight panic hit Keera.

"How do I know? I know because you whisper his name in your sleep"

"They were nightmares" she said hurriedly. "What are you suggesting!" Keera sat her self up straight and crossed her arms in a defensive manor.

"Em... nothing you did what you had to" I looked at the dirt around my feet "Sorry."

"Hey its ok can't be too careful right?" Keera placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. I was now quite dark, I could see Keera scanning the camp. There was a loud bird call, Jet and Blake were on their feet immediately, Jet searched the sky even though it would be too dark to see anything.

"We need to set a watch for the night, Jet first, Gyn then I will go last..." Blake began but was soon interrupted by Keera, I had expected this.

"Oh no you don't, I am doing a watch too do not treat me like an invalid or we will fall out" she scolded. Blake, Jet and I gave each other a 'I knew it' look.

"Ok fine you can do second watch" Blake sighed.

"Good I can build a wall around the camp it may help with defences" Keera suggested. I was about to yell at her, tell her that she was stupid for trying to do things to soon but I decided to keep it to myself. Instead I helped Keera to stand and then I supported her as we walked around the edge of the camp. The soil was rising beside us about 2 metres high, I could feel the ground rumbling under my feet as it did so.

Once the wall was up I helped Keera to get into her sleeping bag and then retired to my own, which had been placed beside Blake's.

I had trouble sleeping, I was worried about things flying overhead, Keeras wall would not protect us from an aerial attack. I drifted in and out of restless sleep, I was just on the boarder of falling back to sleep when I heard it a crow cry, it was unmistakable. From where I was lying I saw Keera being to get up from where she was sitting she walked towards the wall and then created an arch in it. I turned over knowing she would check to see if we were sleeping before heading out into the pitch darkness. Once she was out I sat up and looked around, Jet and Blake were still sleeping, I picked up my weapons and crept over to the arch she had made. I stood to the side of it and peered around the corner, in the dark all I could see was a faint outline of two people standing a few metres from the wall. I stayed were I was and listed to what I could of their hushed conversation.


	13. Chapter 13

I could see the two figures standing not to far in front of me, I stood with my back to the wall and listened to the conversation that started between them.

"What are you doing here? It is my watch over the camp and therefore my duty to see you off" I heard Keera say. She should be seeing him off, she should have woken all of us and we could have all seen him off. The way things sounded between them didn't sound like Keera was frightened of him at all, when only a few hours ago she said she had been having nightmares.

"I wanted to see that you were ok after your altercation with my brother" Brothers, so the Shadow Mage that I had slashed was his brother.

"Well as you can see I'm fine we guards are made of tough stuff. You should go now" Keera turned and I whipped myself back behind the wall so she couldn't see me. Vex grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, I had to use all my self control not to go charging out and drive my scythes into him. Keeras body buckled and he held her up, the wound in her side was obviously very painful, she wouldn't least much longer like this we had to get her to an infirmary.

"I'm fine, tough stuff remember" she assured him. She was made of tough stuff but she will have to take it easy.

"You know I still don't know your name" he cooed at her.

"I know and its going to stay that way, you have no need to know my name" she replied bitterly.

"What not even after what happened between us" he said with a lecherous smirk on his face. I knew something had happened between them, I didn't understand why Keera felt the need to lie to me.

"Nothing happened"

"Oh come on! You cannot deny that there was a spark, a smouldering fire deep within you" he said as if he was trying to convince her that there was something more.

"Don't be stupid Vex! I used you, played with you so I could get my amulet back. We are natural enemies. I am an apprentice guard and am bound to protect my Kingdom, being seen with you goes against our code. I did what I had to, to escape." Keera snarled at him.

"We both know that's not true, that may have been your method of escape and it worked, but you cannot deny that you felt a link between us" he reached out to touch her but she moved away. He grabbed her chin roughly and forced his lips to hers but she didn't put up a fight.

"No!" she said finally coming to her senses and she pulled away.

"Why not, no one needs to know" I had a sickening thought that he was trying to turn her against us.

"This, us, is not going to happen do you hear me! I am going to complete my mission then go back to the Elder Tower and graduate, then my life will be dedicated to protecting my kingdom as an elite Elder Guard. There is not room for you. Do not stand in the way of my mission or jeopardise the safety of my Kingdoms people because I will crush you." Finally, I thought, she was getting back on track.

"I do as I am told too and if that means our paths are to cross again then so be it. But I am an important Shadow mage in Karox and I always get what I want no matter how much the object of my desire eludes me, do you hear me!" He growled at her sounding nasty for the first time since he had arrived.

"I do not care what you say Shadow Mage as you are going to be disappointed this time."

"Is that so? We shall see my dear, let the battle commence and we shall see who is the victor in the end. But before I leave you I am going to do what I do best and steal something from you" All I could think about was killing this guy, rage was boiling in my blood.

"And just what do you intend to steal from me?"

"Another kiss" His voice became soft again and he did not sound like he was our enemy, I could have probably fallen for him myself if he had spoken to me in that tone of voice, he didn't even look too dangerous, in fact he was rather attractive. He began to kiss her again, she wound her hand up into his hair and I could see that there was something between them, more than feminine charm used to escape. They rested their foreheads against each others and they looked like a couple, a couple who had been together for some time.

"until next time my dear" I heard him say and then he walked backwards into the darkness until he could be seen no longer. Keera fell to her knees, I watched her for a few moments before stepping out from my hiding place. I walked over to her and she spun around in shock. I held out my hand, she took it and smiled as I helped her to her feet.

"You ok?" I asked

"I will be." she sighed.


	14. Chapter 14

As evening pressed upon us we approached the city of Mirage. We slowed the horses as we reached the gate, the change in ground was quite definite, it suddenly went from loose sandy soil to cobbled stones that looked like pebbles which has been washed up, there was also a covering of sand on the cobbles which crunched underneath the horses hooves. Mirage was the most beautiful place that I had seen, so much attention to detail had been placed on each building. Every building was a different colour and the roofs were decorated with swirled shells, it made the whole place look like some kind of fantasy village that had been plucked right out of a story book.

The noise of the horses hooves was rather loud on the cobbles, we headed straight for the City Hall which was located in the centre of the city. As we approached the City Hall we noticed that it was decorated just like the rest of the city but on a much grander scale. The building was the shape of a sand castle with four turrets which were topped with the swirled shells. There was a large dome in the centre which was covered in loads of different colours. This was the main building of the city and also where the Mayor lived and worked.

We reached the steps to the City Hall and climbed down of the horses, Jet helped Keera down from minx, I knew he would be rushing to her aid it was going to get so annoying. I tethered Garnet just at the bottom of the stairs.

"This place is beautiful." I said pointing to some of the buildings around. Keera nodded.

"We should go and find the Mayor to let him know we are here."Blake said.

We headed up the stairs, grains of sand crunching underfoot. The doors were very light weighted and didn't seem so secure, if I lived here I would want something much more secure. The seaside theme was continued through the interior, the place was covered in fish tanks filled with tropical marine life. It was very bright inside as every wall was white washed and stained glass panels were hung every few feet.

"Keera" The Mayor will see us now." Jet yelled, I gritted my teeth and punched him quite hard in the arm as his voice echoed through the hall. I hissed at him to shut up.

A guide lead us up stairs and through another corridor, there were doors on each side of the corridor with small copper plaques nailed to each one indicated who resided in that office and their purpose. We reached another reception area and the receptionist looked up as we clattered down the hall. Keera ventured to her desk and explained who we were and our reason for being there, she notified the Mayor and then we were led to a door set in the far wall which read Mayor Finnus. I began to wonder what this man was like.

Blake knocked on the door and then walked in, we all filed in behind him. The office was bright and spacious, more fish tanks were dotted around the room along with shelves filled with sea themed bric-a-brac. The Mayor was seated behind a crescent shaped desk with his back to a large stained glass window which depicted an underwater scene. He was very quick, he was in front of us in a flash and had thrust his hand out to Keera who jumped and chuckled to myself.

"ooh I cant say just how glad I am that you are here, I was beginning to think that you weren't coming after all" the Mayor said as he shook each of out hands. As he reached me I noticed what friendly looking man he was. He had striking blue eyes which protruded slightly giving him a distinctly fishy look. He was small and plump and had a crescent of white hair surrounding a balding spot on the top of his head, he also sported a white beard to match his hair.

"We erm, ran into some trouble on the way it caused a bit of a delay" Keera said filling him in on our delay, we had been delayed by quite a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if there had been a missing in action notice sent back to the Tower.

"No worries, you are here now. I suggest that I tell you where you will be staying while in Mirage then you can all get cleaned up and have a proper night's sleep before reporting back in the morning to get down to business" he said bouncing on the balls of his feet. I longed for a decent nights sleep with an actual bed and not a sleeping mat which was littered with pebbles.

"That sounds excellent." Jet said with a huge grin of his face, I rolled my eyes at him.

"Now I have a small house for you to use while you are here I will get someone to show you the way so don't worry about directions. Here is a map for each of you if you do need it" he handed out a small piece of paper with a detailed map on it. "a bit of advice before you go I would suggest that you do not venture out when it gets dark there have been some strange goings on of late and I would hate for something to happen to you before we can discuss these problems in the morning."

My mind began to wander as he spoke of dangers lurking in the night. "Why should we stay indoors when it gets late?" Panic started to show on my face, I thought we would be safe once we reached Mirage.

"We will discuss these matters in the morning child as the hour is getting late and like I said, no one ventures out in the night." We all nodded even though I would have been more happy to discuss it tonight so that this discussion did not make for an uneasy sleep. "Is there anything else you need before you go on your way?"

"Where is the infirmary, our friend here had an injury on the way here and needs it seen to quite urgently" Blake said as he indicated to Keera. The chirpy look vanished from the Mayors face and was replaced by one of deep concern.

"Oh my dear are you ok?"

"I am ok but it does need seen to sir" she replied placing her hand over the wound.

"I will ask the guide to take you there immediately then show you to your residence" The Mayor wandered over to his desk and called through to his secretary, after waiting a few moments there was a small knock on the door and it opened revealing a young boy who could have only been fifteen or sixteen. The Mayor gave him clear instructions on where we needed to go and stressed to him the time frame in which we had to do this as darkness was creeping over the city. The Mayor dismissed us and we headed back through the council building. Walking through the corridors I looked out of the windows seeing the light dimming outside, the city was so beautiful what kind of evil could be lurking around out there. The feeling of safety I had when we had reached the gate of Mirage was leaving me very quickly and I didn't like it.


	15. Chapter 15

The boy guided us to the infirmary with the horses in tow. The infirmary was not far from the City Hall. Keera was ushered into an examination room while we were told to wait outside for risk or infection, it was not surprising looking at us, we were caked in dirt and hadn't showed since we left the Tower, we had bathed as best we could on the road but nothing could beat a nice hot shower. The infirmary was very clinical, every surface was white and shiny, Jet sat down on one of the benches but Blake and I stood for the risk of getting any surface dirty.

After a while Keera emerged from the exam room, she looked much more comfortable. The young guide began hurrying out of the door without much warning and we had to follow at almost a run. The sun was beginning to set and the pace became more hurried, we wound out way though so many different streets I thought I might get lost. We slowed as we reached the most peculiar looking building. A large sign was hung above a glass walkway which read 'The Swordfish Inn', it shared the same décor as all the other buildings around it but this glass walkway was a unique quality. The inn was situated in the middle of small apartments, the glass front linked everything together so that you could pass between them without going outside.

The boy lead us into the inn and then hurried off down the street, we could see him running off into the distance. There was a small reception desk located in the corner of a small entrance hall, Blake who we were and that the payment of the room would be taken care of by Mayor Finnus. She got up from her desk and walked to a walk where keys hung on hooks, she searched through them and then picked some up. She handed a set to each of us and then ushered us through a door which brought us onto the glass walkway.

"Your room is just down here, if you need anything let me know and once you have unpacked and freshened up you may want to come to the bar for some food and drink, we do the best fired cod in Mirage" she smiled at us and then glanced outside, the darkness was just sweeping over the inn as we all looked out. The woman left us and headed back to her desk.

We all looked out of the window and a sudden wave of sickness spread through me as I looked at the ominous mist swirling and sliding across the ground, pushing itself up against every building as if it was trying to trap everything inside. We all stood frozen to the spot watching this mist lap at the glass we were standing on.

"Well I think we should keep all windows shut, everyone in agreement" Jet laughed nervously.

"Definitely." Keera replied.

"We should go... unpack." I said trying to pull focus back from the window.

I lead the way down the corridor and stopped outside the room numbered 23, I unlocked the door and pushed it open, I stepped inside and lit the candles around the room with a flame from the plam of my hand. It was a small but quite lovely apartment, there was a living area and a conjoined kitchen near the back. There were two rooms leading off either end of the living area, both rooms were furnished with two single beds and a set of drawers, Keera and I decided we should share one room and leave the boys to share the other. I felt slightly sorry for Blake as he was getting the worst end of the deal having to share a room with Jet, his mess and his snoring. Keera and I moved into the room on the left, the single beds lined the walls with a chest of drawers under the window, I dumped by bag on top of the drawers and closed the curtains. Keera walked over to the other door that was in the room and looked inside.

"Hey I am going to have a quick shower my skin is crusted in muck." she said before going into the room and closing the door. I opened the top two drawer and began to load my things into them, leaving all my dirty clothes in my bag, I would have to wash them sooner or later.

Keera emerged from the bathroom a while later wrapped in a white towel. I felt even more dirty now that I could smell the soap wafting with the steam out of the bathroom. I rushed into the bathroom and peeled my travel worn clothes from my tired body. I stepped under the hot stream of water and let it caress the journey out of me, I looked down at the water which was running slightly brown as all the sand and mud was washed out of my hair. Once the water was running a normal colour I lathered my hair in soap, it made me feel so much better. Hunger suddenly struck me and hurried the rest of my shower as to not keep the others waiting. I wrapped myself in a towel and walked back into the bedroom, Keera must have already been dressed and waiting in the living room. I went to the dresser and picked out something that didn't look like travelling clothes, a long red shirt that was long enough to be a dress, I wrapped my belt around the middle and tucked my knife in the back before pulling on my boots. I ran hot hands through my hair till it was dry and I just let it fall around my shoulder, I smudged some charcoal underneath my eyes and then went to the living area to meat everyone else. An hour later we were all dressed.

"Let's go to the bar, I'm starving and could use a stiff drink" Blake said stretching and rising from the couch, he looked so much nicer now he was all cleaned up.

"Sounds like a plan" Jet said also getting to his feet, I looked at Keera and we mentally agreed to go, we got up and followed the guys from the room pausing briefly to lock the door.

We all tried to avoid looking at the mist that was trying to creep its way up the glass beside us. We reached the bar and the cosy friendly atmosphere was very comforting. We picked a table tucked in a corner, it was all made from driftwood and there was still a distinct salty smell clinging to it. We ordered the fired cod which was brought to us very quickly along with a bottle of liquor and four glasses. The liquor was quite strong, I sipped at mine telling myself that I could not drink to much of this stuff.

After a couple of drinks we all began to get a little merry and were laughing at Jets jokes which we would never have normally found funny. Jet began to clamber out from the table to go and pick a song, I laughed as he wobbled his way over to the duke box and picked up the bottle of liquor filling up his glass, we had already done this a few times tonight. I sat back in the chair and sipped at my own glass feeling the warm liquid slid down my throat. Jet slammed his self back behind the table and picked up his glass downing the whole drink in one.

"See that b..barmaaid she thinks I'm hot, look see she does" Jet slurred. I almost choked on my drink as I laughed at him.

"No Jet she is staring because you are shouting and pointing at her" Blake laughed while Jet glared at him.

"Your just ..hic.. jealous coz it's me she likes, I am going to talk to her" He got back out from behind the table and moved very clumsily towards the bar. The woman looked up as he slumped against it. "You are very pretty." he said to her while swaying and brandishing an empty glass at her. She gave him an exasperated smiled as she polished the glasses. " You know you want me." He yelled as she turned her back on him. "Come on." he pleaded, the woman put down her glass turn around and slapped him across the face. We all began to laugh hysterically as he lumbered back to the table holding his face and slumped down beside Keera.

"sheee don't know what shes missing.." he mumbled. "I looove this song come on Keera!" he shouted and grabbed Keera's arm, he dragged her across the room to a small dance floor where there were only a few other people dancing.

"You want to dance?" Blake said bringing me back to the table. I snorted into my drink.

"Me dance!" I laughed, "I have not had enough to drink to get up and dance, especially not with Jets talents on the dance floor." I said pointing to where Jet was lying on the floor and Keera was trying to help him up. Blake placed a hand on my leg and smiled at me, he poured some more liquor into my glass, I grabbed his hand to stop him, "I think I have had enough, my head is starting to swim and I do not want to be hungover for the meeting tomorrow."

I looked up at him and he was staring at me, there was something different about the way he was looking at me. He lifted a hand and brushed some hair out of my eyes, the skin on my face tingled where his fingers lingered. He leant forward and before I could register what was happening I was leaning towards him too. Our lips were inches apart when an almighty crash made us jump apart. I got too my feet and looked around to see what the crash had been, I was fingering my knife in my belt as I looked under the table to see Jet lying motionless on the floor with his tongue hanging out. I doubled up with laughed and could see Keera laughing while still standing at a distance. Blake sighed and dragged Jet our from under the table and slung him over his shoulder with ease.

"I guess we should get him to bed, we have a busy day tomorrow" Blake said just as Jet retched and threw up all over the floor, I jumped back to miss the stream of vomit, luckily he had missed throwing up on Blake. We muttered an apology to the barmaids as we left. Jet suddenly came back to life.

"Hey where wee going can I not have one more tipple before I go to bed" he mumbled.

"No I think you have had enough to drink." I laughed as I watched his head lolling around upside down in front of me.

"Just one tipple before I go to bed." he then passed out just as we reached out room.


	16. Chapter 16

I awoke as sun began streaming through the curtains, Keera was still sleeping and I wasn't surprised by the amount of liquor she had packed away the night before, although nowhere near the amount Jet had, I didn't envy the hangover that he would have this morning. I lent over the side of my bed and pulled my pack out from under it, I rummaged through until I found what I was looking for, a small leather bound book, it still had that distinct new book smell and you could also smell the new leather. It had been a gift on my last birthday from my younger brother he had bound it himself. I grabbed a pen out of my pack also and began to write down all the strange things we witnessed about the mist the night before, along with the warning from the Mayor to stay indoors at night. Keera began to stir, I wondered if the scratching of my pen had woken her.

"What you doing?" she asked turning to face me and wrapping herself in her blanket.

"I thought I would begin to document our discoveries so far it's not much but gives us a start, I have just noted the warning that Mayor Finnus gave us and observations of the mist." I explained to her while still scrawling random observations.

"Good idea that is after all the purpose of our trip." she replied. I placed the book and pen on the little table beside my bed and pulled back the covers. I grabbed some clean clothes out of my pack and went to the bathroom for a quick shower and to get dressed. I put on a black vest and a pair of red below the knee shorts before heading to the living room.

Jet was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, there was no colour in his face. I by past him and went to stand beside Blake who also seemed to be keeping his distance. Blake was obviously taking advantage to the warm seaside weather here too as he was also wearing below the knee shorts and a vest, all in black of course, I don't think he had clothes in any other colour.

"How did you sleep?" I asked him. I gave me an exasperated look.

"Between his snoring and getting up to puke every five minutes I got a wonderful nights sleep." he explained. I gave him a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his arm, I felt him jump as I did so then he looked down and smiled at me.

"You should have just come through and slept in here."

"It is done now, I will never let him drink like that ever again." I laughed as Blake set rules for Jet. Keera then emerged from our room also dressed rather summery, it was like we had all had the same idea, she approached Jet and handed him what I assumed was one of her many potions as Jet soon began to perk up.

We headed to the inn for some breakfast before heading back into the centre of the city to go to our meeting with the Mayor, I had tucked my notebook into one of my pockets so that I could take notes there and not have to rely on memory to add them to the book later. When we left we all decided it would be a good idea to walk to the City Hall, it would also give Jet some much needed fresh air. Blake was given the job of map reader, it was a good job we had a map because it was so early there was hardly anyone around we could have asked for directions. It took us the best part of twenty minutes before the colourful dome of the City Hall came into view and Blake tucked the map away.

We headed up the same large steps as we had done the previous evening and into the building. Mayor Finnus was waiting for us as we entered, I made a mental not to write this in my book as I wasn't certain that high authority figured greeted people at the door, it was normally the job of a guide to show you where you are going, that is what they were paid for after all. Mayor Finnus lead us to his office, the sunlight was creating lots of coloured patterns around the room as it shone through the stained glass mural on the window. Finnus walked around his desk and sat in the big seat behind it.

"Please take a seat and then we can begin" he said as he made himself comfortable. We each took a seat and I removed my book from my pocket and opened it at a blank page, pen ready.

"How can we help you mayor?" Keera asked politely.

"The night time is not safe for my people and I need to get to the bottom of it. it started a couple of weeks ago and was not much to worry about at firsts just a small amount of strange mist. As time went on it got thicker and came every night. That's when the problems started" The Mayor explained looking worried again.

"What problems exactly" I asked him, needing as many details as possible so we could put it all together.

"At first people began to report loved ones missing saying that they had gone out in the night to run an errand and just never came back. Then there were reports of people seeing things within the mist, creatures made from the swirling fog itself and that's when people started to turn up dead. People would leave their homes in the morning and stumble across a corpse in the street as ridged as a board, eyes staring and mouth agape." The worry lines seemed to double on the mayors face as he explained this to us, he also shuddered as if he has personal experience with the discoveries of the corpses, I noted it all down in my book.

"Do you think that it's the creatures that are killing the civilians?" Jet asked, shaking slightly.

"Most definitely and I know where the mists have come from and they must be stopped they are already beginning the spread and there have been reports in nearing towns of strange mists which appear at night"

"So where have the mists come from?" Keera asked, I looked around at my companions briefly to gauge their reactions to this news that we were hearing. I was struggling to get it into my head.

"There is a place called the Avias well located not far from here, it is a holy place and is said to house evil souls called the mistwraiths. The well can only be opened by someone with a tainted soul and closed by someone with a pure soul. When the well is opened it released these souls and the dense mist in which they live, if the well is not closed this taint will spread throughout thane."

"How do we close the well?" Blake asked sitting forwards in his chair as if he was scrutinising the Mayor.

"To close the well you must first break the enchantment which opened it, the only way this can be done is to find who opened the well, and spill some of their blood into the mists then and only then can one of pure heart go to the well and close it, an enchantment must be read to seal the top of the well it is inscribed on a stone tablet in the temple where the well resides." The Mayor said ringing his hands together. This all seemed a little strange to me.

I finished writing down the Mayors last statement, I couldn't help but think we were in over our heads, this was a much higher ranking mission than we had originally thought and I seriously considered asking if we could get a message to the tower to ask for some form of back up, this really was not a job for an non graduate.

"Right so the first task would be to find out who opened the Avias Well, any ideas mayor?" Keera asked.

"Not really Mirage has its fair share of criminals and miscreants all whom could use the mists to get what they want, and there have been rumours of shadow mages, although no one has seen any here in mirage" Great I thought, this was going to make our jobs so much easier sifting through petty criminals.

"Thank you Mayor Finnus, we will begin deliberating and planning right away, we will do our best to solve your problem" Blake said as calmly as he could. I was so glad I didn't have to speak of my voice may have been a give away to what I was thinking.

The Mayor nodded and shook all of our hands before showing us out of his office. Once the door closed behind us we all let the reality of the mayors words show to one another.


End file.
